introduce myself I am Estela Rios also known as StellaJourney for my social sites I set up to inspire people like me. I used to weigh 405 pounds 3 1/2 yrs ago I am a single mother of 5 handsome boys ages 13 to 4yrs old I work couple jobs and I have 24 brothers and sister same mom and dad my father is a pastor by the way. Mom passed away on mother’s day this year will be 3 1/2 yrs ago I decided to make a decision to either give up and wait for death or wake up and chase my mother to heaven😳👀💋💋 that’s my mom😳 so here I stand today with no coach no trainer just God and my true friends I have made Lou and Levi at sports nutrition store in Tigard, angel sauce, Dominic current senor mark Mason these people have been true to the bone as friends. I recently went for Pittsburgh and Miami in August ended up 10th in the nationals in both Miami and Pittsburgh so I scheduled my surgery tummy tuck and breast done just 6 1/2 months ago the doctor just released me to workout so I got ready for the emerald cup placing 6th to start my season. I recently jumped into tanji Johnson show received 2nd and 3rd I believe now I have this show then o fly to Brazil to compete there.I’ve had no surgeries beforehand to lose weight or skin I did it all by Gods grace and strength and if you ask me.. this is better then living like a heroin addict for 11 years this I thank God I experienced before ANY OF MY CHILDREN were born nor have I relapsed since God healed me I take it and run!! So that is why I am overly excited to be here today for God I am nothing. I hope this has given you a little insight about myself am not here to bully or flaunt nothing I am here to grieve and move on with my life and everything in it so hi hehe. An honor Guys! See ya soon and thank you so much!

Placing.. titles..
Titles 1st show seven feathers 3rd,3rd,4th 2015, 2nd show Oregon state championship 2016 overall champion, 1st,1st,1st, fitness achievement award, 3rd show 2017 Cascadian classic 1st,2nd, 4thshow 2017 northwest championships 2nd,1st,5th show Pittsburgh championships 2017 10th,16th, 6th show Miami champions 2017 10th place, 7th show emerald cup 2018 6th,12th and most Inspirational award, 8th show 2018 Pacific coast 2nd,3rd,9th show Tanji Johnson classic 2018 2nd,2nd, physique and 8th #figure second time in 3 yrs. Now getting ready before I fly out to your show on the 9th of August my 10th show is for npcwastateopen national qualifier that is my 11th show would be you guys Brasil!!

I was involved in an auto-motorcycle accident back in 2013. A drunk driver ran me over from the rear while I was waiting to turn left on a motorcycle at a stoplight. My left foot got caught underneath the tire of his F150 truck, which resulted in a shattered ankle joint and broken fibula/tibia. The driver who hit me drove off but was apprehended by the Washington State trooper a few moments later. I was prepping for a local bodybuilding show when the accident happened. Both the doctors at St Joseph Medical Tacoma and Harborview Medical performed a total of 9 surgeries on my left foot. Seven small cleaning preventive surgeries and two major ones. An internal fixation of titanium plate and twelve screws were inserted into my ankle and a patch of skin was taken from my left thigh for a skin graft. I tried to maintain my physique while staying almost 2 months at the hospital. My buddy brought me some elastic bungee so that I can tie it to the hospital bed and get some pump. The recovery and rehab process took awhile since the ligaments and tendons took a hard hit, and they heal a lot slower then the broken joints/bones. I was able to progress from crutches to walking with a cane after 5 months. My body shrunk down to an all-time low weight and there was a point where I actually thought about giving up competitive bodybuilding. I went to the 2013 Emerald Cup in Bellevue WA and that event sparked up my interest on lifting weights seriously again. I had my final surgery in 2015 where the doctors took out the plate and screws from my ankle. I told myself that I will step on stage again within the next 3 years once I recover. Although there is still pain most of the time and I walk with a noticeable limp, I decide to train hard to compete for this year’s 2018 NPC Washington State bodybuilding show. This will be my first time ever participating in NPC federation. I would like people to realize that sometimes in life we often get hit by a big obstacle or barrier. This can be physical,financial, relationship,mental etc. The most important thing is to evaluate life and identify the obstacles, then make up small and big goals to conquer them. It will take time and persistence, but well worth everything in the end. Lost time is not retrievable so we might as well make the best of what we have. Thank you for reading my story. I look forward to having an awesome time on stage.

In May of 2010, I participated in a sprint triathlon in Tempe, Arizona. I’ve always been active relatively speaking but I had not been involved in any type of organized sport since I was a child. In the last three weeks before the race I started to feel ill, and I was having trouble breathing during training. I did the race and flew home but still did not feel much better. Two weeks later I got up for work and my left leg was dark purple. Later that evening I was hospitalized with a ten inch clot in my abdomen. Through a series of unfortunate events I was accidentally discharged the next morning. I was happy at the time, I was never sick and I didn’t want to be in the hospital. But 3 days later my leg was essentially black and I was dragging it. I called my doctor who saw me the following morning. As soon as I arrived he was explaining that he had been in contact with the hospital, that they were expecting me immediately and that I was having surgery. I was arguing with him, there was no way I was going back. He said “You may not make it to the hospital. I’ve already called your family.” I left for the hospital and was still in denial. But when I got to the hospital and I could see how frantic my surgeon was it changed. I will never forget the nurse popping her head in and telling my surgeon there were 3 people in front of me. He said “She goes now, she may not make it.” And it finally set in. I was in the OR within ten minutes of arriving and the surgeon had me say goodbye to my then husband. He told me if I was not going to make it, my family would be able to come in and say goodbye, they had yet to arrive.

That day forever changed my life. I have an extremely rare condition called May-Thurner Syndrome. That day they removed the clot and place a stent in my iliac vein. A stent I need to live. It sits directly on my spine and is compressed by my artery. It was my surgeon’s first one. Unfortunately, I had severe complications with the stent. I was hospitalized at the Mayo clinic for a month in October of 2010 and two months in March and April of 2011. Fortunately they were eventually able to remedy the issues I was having. When I left the Mayo Clinic I was 89 pounds. I am 5’8″. I was on 8 different medications. I had and will always have severe post thrombotic syndrome in both legs but much worse in the left. They said I would always need to be in compression socks, my vascular system is so compromised. They said my left leg, which had atrophied to less than half the size of my right, would never recover. They said I would always have a severe limp. I was sent home and placed in an aggressive physical therapy program.

This was unbelievable to me. I started researching ways to rebuild muscle. I learned that as you build muscle your vascularity improves and your body will actually develop collateral veins. After several months of physical therapy, I decided to leave and just start going to the gym. It was so hard, everyone stared at me. People made comments directly to me about how underweight I was. And I didn’t feel good when I went, I was still very sick. But I ever so slowly started to improve. As I built muscle my pain became less because my blood was flowing a little better. I found that if I manually got my blood pumping a good two hours a day, I had much less swelling in my legs. I don’t have time for that, but I make the time regardless because it’s how I make it each day now. It’s the difference for me of functioning normally with manageable pain, and barely functioning on numerous medications.

During my journey, I learned this whole fitness world existed. I thought if I have to be in the gym every day, I might as well do something fun with it. In July of 2013 I hired a coach. He told me I would need a year of training. I committed to that and a year and four months later I competed in my first show. I now I’m about to do my fourth.

I no longer take any medication at all. My left leg is almost the same size as my right now. It’s probably only noticeable to me, and maybe on stage. I rarely need to wear compression socks and my pain is extremely manageable as long as I get into the gym for at least two hours each day. I can take a day off each week and I do OK. But not more than that. I don’t always love being there but I always go. I don’t love spending most of my Sunday cooking all of my meals for the week but I do it. Because I want to keep moving forward. I decided to share my story in the hopes that even just one person is inspired and keeps moving forward as well. Fitness literally saved my life. Thank you for letting me share.